A Running Start
by Awesomejoyce
Summary: This is how Luke ran away when he was little. After a morning of cereal, a crazy mom, a weird prophecy, an amazing sword, and a creepy monster, Luke knows that he has to leave to go somewhere safer. I collaborated on this story with the amazing helenhl! Hope you like it!


I'm Luke Castellan, nine-year-old demigod son of Hermes. My mom tells me all about the world of the Greek gods, when she's – oh, how should I put it - not completely insane? Mom is just plain scary sometimes.

She goes on and on about how brave and noble my dad, Hermes, is. She acts like he's the king of the gods instead of Zeus. And me? I think the gods are major jerks. Yeah, that's right, I dared to say that. All they do is relax on their thrones high up on Olympus, not caring about their kids, or their kids' crazy moms' sanity.

They don't do anything to help anyone. They make heroes and mortals do all the work and how are those heroes repaid? By getting struck down with lightning or some other great gesture of appreciation. And then the gods expect you to respect them and make sacrifices for them.

Do you see what I mean? Sure, I've never actually met a god before, not even my dad, but that just makes my point. They don't care about their kids enough to even say hi once in nine years.

Right now I'm in the forest by myself, worn out after a fight with a monster. How did I get here?

It all started when I was upstairs in my room this morning, the start of a new day. But I knew it would be just the same as any other day. I'd have to deal with Mom's wild seizures. I always did.

I stared at my alarm clock. It was eight-thirty. _My mom will be calling me down for breakfast at any minute now_. It was summer vacation, so I didn't even have school to escape her.

''Luke, dear? Time for breakfast!'' Mom sang out.

_Looks like she's normal right now – at least, as normal as she can be._

I got off of my bed where I'd been sitting, ran out of my room, and walked down the stairs carefully, so I wouldn't trip over any of the stuffed mythological creatures Mom had placed on the staircase for some reason.

My mom was waiting for me downstairs, a huge smile on her face. ''There's my beautiful little boy! What would you like for breakfast, Luke? Toast? Bagels? Muffins? French toast? Pancakes? Waffles? Sausage? Fruit? Granola? Oatmeal? String cheese? Yogurt? Pizza? Donuts? Pop-Tarts? Strudel? Cinnamon rolls? Biscuits? Omelet? Bacon? Cottage cheese? Cereal?''

''Uh… cereal is fine. Thanks, Mom.''

''You are certainly welcome! Anything for my beautiful boy Luke.''

I smiled as Mom started making cereal. As she got out the bowl from the cupboard, I looked out the window, and saw a flash of color. As she poured the milk from the carton, I ran to the window, and couldn't believe what I saw.

The thing was huge. I'm not sure what it was exactly – hey, I'm only nine – but it sure was scary.

"Um… Mom?" I ask.

"Yes, Luke?"

"What's that thing outside?"

"Hmm?" She peered out the window, and beamed in satisfaction. "I don't see anything, dearie. You must be imagining things. There's nothing to worry about, now, Luke."

Of course, I didn't believe her. I looked outside the window again. The thing was there. Either my mom hadn't seen it, or it had gone and come back. I got a better look at it.

"Here's your cereal, Luke," Mom announced cheerfully.

I took the bowl and tried to ignore the creature staring at me. It was so scary. It had a serpent-like body, and a head attached to each end. Poison was dripping out of both of its mouths. Its eyes seemed to change every second – from blazing like lightning to as blank as paper.

I turned my head away, but I swear I heard the monster hiss, "I will destroy you, son of Hermes." I jumped and dropped my cereal bowl to the floor. It shattered and milk flooded all over. I grabbed a napkin and tried to wipe up the mess, but Mom saw it first.

"Oh, goodness! That's quite a spill you've got there. Don't worry, dear, I'll tidy it up." She started to mop it up. Suddenly, though, she froze. _Here we go again. The weirdness._ Her eyes started glowing green, and she grabbed me by my shoulders, shaking me. She has said these prophecies dozens of times, and now I was seriously getting scared of them.

The Titan Lord someday will reign.

Son of Hermes seeks honor and fame.

In the boy's body Kronos will hide,

Where he will stealthily bide his time.

Mom un-froze, let go of me, and started wiping up the spill like nothing happened. "Uh... I have to get something," I stammered. While I ran up the stairs, I ripped off the picture of my dad she kept above the sink and shredded it into little bits, which fluttered away.

"Okay, honey. Don't be late for school!" she called, apparently forgetting that it was summer vacation.

Upstairs, I passed my room and headed for a small door, behind which was a flight of stairs that lead to the attic. My mom always told me never to go to the attic. I figured there was something dangerous in there, and I needed something dangerous if I wanted to kill the whatever-it-was outside.

My breath came out in huffs as I climbed the winding stairs, and finally arrived in a dark room. The one window had closed blinds over it, so I opened the blinds, which gave me a nice view of the monster, twisting and hissing. Scattered around the room was a variety of dangerous weapons, like daggers, swords, and bows. They looked to be made out of bronze. I randomly stuffed an ax and a short sword in his belt. Glancing over the weapons again, I grabbed a small bronze dagger. Since the window wouldn't open, I would go out from the front door.

"Luke! I have cookies, sandwiches, and Kool-Aid ready for you!" Mom called from downstairs, seeming to forget that I just had breakfast. I ignored her, there were much more immediate things to deal with.

The monster hissed and faced me. Both mouths were open impossibly wide, with poison dripping and landing on the grass with a sizzle. The grass instantly turned a sickly yellow. I went into a wild panic, but then I remembered that this was probably sent by the gods. Of course. Sitting on their thrones, laughing at me. But right now, I had to get to safety. Away from the gods. Away from my mom. Away from the monster.

It was about 5 feet away from me now, so I pulled out the sword, lunged forward, and stabbed. It roared, then dissolved into dust. Whoa.

I stuffed the sword back into my belt, ran outside, and dashed off into the woods surrounding the house. Mom noticed that I hadn't come back, but only now. I'm glad her hearing isn't the best. Her worried voice came from the house, but I ignored it and ran on.

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**Hope you enjoyed that! :) I really had fun writing it! As I said in the summary, I collaborated on this story with helenhl, who is AWESOME! She has some really great ideas, her writing is amazing, and she is an exceptional author! Please review! YAY! :D**** P.)** :D** P.)** :D P.)

**-Awesomejoyce**


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